Car ventilation



(N0 Mode1.)'

HQRSTANLBY.

lCAR VENTILATION.

Patented July 20,1897.

my 20W 4 it Wl vl W l we.: 1

' flllllllllllll/lll//l//l/l/ UNITED STATES ATENT Enron.

HENRY F.'S'IANLEY, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

CAR VENTILATION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 585,939, dated July 20,189'?.

Application filed May 7, 1896. Serial No. 590,598. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may con/cern:

Be it known that I, HENRY FREDERICK STANLEY, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State ofLouisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in anAdjustable Ventilated Oar Floor for Perishable Freight; and I do declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description oftheinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

'This invention relates to railway rollingstock, and more especially tofreight-cars for carrying fruit and the like; and the object of the sameis to produce an attachment for ordinary freight cars whereby they willbe adapted for the reception of perishable fruit.

To this end'. the invention consists in boxes located in the oppositeends of the car'and each containing a windlass or shaft whereon arewound endless belts connected by slats,

the latter being adapted to be drawn outward from the boxes over sillswhich are removably held upon the car-floor. The construction of thesame is described in the following specification and illustrated in thedrawings hereto attached, and in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinalsection of a freight-car constructed in accordance with my invention.Fig. 2 is a horizontal section thereof. In both of these views one setof slats is withdrawn or unwound from its box or casing and the other iscontained therein. Fig. 3 is a perspective detail showing one of theremovable sills with its parts slightly separated.

Referring to the said drawings, the letter F designates an ordinaryfreight-car, here shown as having a footway along its top, a brake, andside doors, although these parts bear no letters of reference, sincetheir'construction is well known in the art. The body of the car isprovided with a rigid iiooring f of any approved construction.

Coming now more particularly to the present invention, the letters Bdesignate boxes or casings, lthe bottoms of which rest upon and formtransverse strips across the floor of the car, one of which is securedin each lower endmost corner of the car F, and each box contains awindlass or shaft W, having trunnions fw journaled in the ends of thebox proper, and one of which, w', stands opposite an opening f in theside of the car and is provided with an angular axial opening adapted toreceive the squared end c of the crank-handle C, as clearly shown inFig. 2. By this construction the crank can be removabl y inserted in thetrunnion of the windlass, and the latter can be turned in veitherdirection at will, after which the crank can be removed, as will beclearly understood. Attached to said windlass or shaft W are two or moreflexible straps S, connected by transverse slats SQ which may be of woodor other suitable material, the length of each strap S being sufficientwhen unwound from the windlass-shaft W to extend therefrom to a pointabout midway of the length of the car F, as seen in the drawings. Thisseries of slats is unwound by grasping the outermost and drawing uponthe same, and it is rewound upon the shaft W by means of the crank C, aswill be clearly understood.

Lyingloosely and removably upon the iioor f of the car F is a number ofsills, each consisting of a section P and a section P', pivotallyconnected, as at p', the section P having a U-shaped socket p at itsouter extremity, and Pl is a third section, one end of which'fitsloosely in the socket p", as will be understood from Fig. 3. Theoutermost end of the section P, as well as the outermost end of thesection P", is rounded on its upper side and shouldered on its lowerside, as at E, and the lower side of the casing or boxing B is providedwith several notches N, each Aof which is adapted to receive one end ofthe removable sill where shouldered at E, while the body of this sillrests loosely upon the flooring f.

In use the boxes B having been inserted in the ordinary freight-car andsecured in place in a suitable manner the sills (preferably four innumber, more or less) are laid upon the flooring with their shoulderedends engaging with the notches N, after which the series of slats S aredrawn outward, as seen at the left of Figs. l and 2, their lower facesresting upon and their straps moving between the sills. These series ofslats meet at about the center of the car, and hence there is affordedbetween the removable sills and betweenthe slats S' a free circulationof air upward and around through whatever perishable fruit may besupported by this removable car-floor. In addition the side doors of theears maybe slatted or otherwise provided with openings for the purposeof ventilation, this idea forming no part of the present invention.

Vhat is claimed isl. In a freight-car, the combination with thecar-body; of a box located within and at each endmost lower cornerthereof, a shaft having axial trunnions journaled in the ends of the boxproper, the trunnion at one extremity being provided with an angularsocket, a plurality of straps connected with the shaft, a series oftransverse slats carried4 by the straps, a removably-slatted flooringrestingon the car-iloor and having shouldered extremities engaging saidboxes, and means for operating the shaft, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

2. In a freight-car, the combination with the car-body, a boxing at eachendmost lower corner thereof, and removable sills whose bodies rest uponthe car-Hoor and whose ends have shoulders resting on the lower sides ofsaid. boxes; of a wiudlass in each box, and a slatted oor carried byeach windlass, as and Yfor the purpose set forth.

3. In a freight-car, the combination with the car-body and flooring, abox in each endlnost lower corner thereof having notches in its lowerside, and a series of removable sills whose extremities engage saidnotches and whose bodies comprise members pivoted together-so as toallow them to be folded when removed, of a windlass in each box, aflexible i'looring carried by each windlass and comprising longitudinalstraps and transverse slats the former moving between the sills, andmeans for turning the windlass, as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a freight-car, the combination with the carbody having a flooring,a boxing secured in the lower corner thereof and having notches in itslower side, and a series of sills supported removably by such flooringand having shouldered extremities detaehably engaging said notches; of awindlass in the box, a flexible slatted flooring carried bythe windlass,and means for turn ing the windlass, as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a freight-car, the combination with a car-body having a flooring,and a transverse strip in each lowermost end corner thereof providedwith notches; of a series of sills resting removably upon such flooring,each comprising two members pivotally connected at their meeting ends,one member being shouldered at its outer extremity and the other memberhaving a socket at its outer extremity, and a third member whose innerend removably engages said socket and whose outer end is shouldered,said shouldered ends removably fitting the notches in the strips, as andfor the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY F. STANLEY.

XVitn esses:

ROBT. H. MALONE, WM. WILSON.

